As Jesus Walks Lesson 35 Rise Up church: Community in Action (YOU)

Two weeks ago: Actions speak louder than words

Last week: Acting on a firm foundation

Today: The identity of Rise Up Church: Community in Action, and what part you play

And it just happens to be the day before our 1 year anniversary!! Crazy! So what a
perfect opportunity to remember what this church stands for…

Since the last few weeks have been speaking on letting our Actions speak loud, and
standing on a firm foundation…

We are going to get down to the details and talk about what that foundation is
made up of, and how God asks us to live…Cause if we don’t know what is expected and
desired of us…well then we are going to have a hard time doing what we supposed to do?

And so here we are today: With an opportunity to add onto that this year.

YOU PLAY a very important part in this church…hence the picture up front.

Rise Up Church Original Vision

Teaching believers and non believers to know God, love God, and live God in a fallen
world
Knowing God - opportunity to hear truth
Loving God - opportunity to worship in Spirit and truth
Living God Out - opportunity to serve God and Neighbor

Vision Points

o A Home away from home where joy and passion can be shared, and where
all are welcome!
o A Fellowship of believers that dives deep into the Word and only the
Word
o A Family growing in wisdom through challenging presentations that drive
active lifestyles in Christ as we strive to be ‘holy as I am holy.’ (I Peter
1:16)
o A Sanctuary where believers can worship their holy Father in Spirit and
truth according to the Word
o A Refuge for those who seek love in a seemingly loveless world
 o An Active Church that allows and encourages its members to be involved
and active in the partnership of Christ through the use of gifts that God has
blessed them with and in areas the believer is passionate about
o A Community united in action in order to bring fame and glory to our
Christ and the gospel to the hurting and hopeless
o A Focused Church understanding the importance of families, parenting,
and leadership throughout the ages from the oldest believers to the
youngest, where encouragement and wisdom are passed through the body
of Christ to grow believers in all stages of life
o A Body of Believers that are accountable and responsible to each other for
when one falls another is there to help them up (Eccl. 4:9-12)
o A Relationship Driven Church focused on filling lives with the love of
Christ in hopes that this fire will overflow into the community
o An Outreach Driven Church with the common goal of filling unbelievers
with eternal life in Christ
o A Financially Sound Church that remains self-sustaining by keeping the
financial burdens to a minimum to ensure we do not weigh down our
members and our families with unnecessary obligations

Method
Solid Teaching...Dynamic approach

What I feel we are doing well

1. Living out Love: When people come here, they know we are genuinely interested
in them and they feel the arms of Jesus
2. United: Everyone is home here. All backgrounds are welcome here
3. Non Judgmental: We are a church that stands on truth
a. We are not perfect and we know it. We are sinners saved by grace and in
that we are no better than anyone else
b. I know when people come in that are new, or walk in late, they feel
welcome, and that is extremely important
4. A Community: A place where people learn from each other and are encouraged
a. This is why we have so many challenges and I try to get you to email and
call.
b. You do reach out to each other

Where I feel RUC can improve is to continue to seek more teachers…

5. Elder Run, multiple speakers in the word9
a. So far their have been only two of us speak, but my vision is that God
brings individuals who are capable, gifted, and willing to speak
b. This also allows people not to hold one person up on a pedestal, there is
far to much corruption when there is only one pastor, and its something
we’d rather not have and..,
 c. I feel we all have different learning styles, so having different speakers
allows the Spirit to teach us in different ways
6. Community Reaching: I still feel we fall short here. All though we are going to
our streets and work place and sharing the word…I feel like we have fallen short
of getting into the community and homes of those living in this area
a. That’s probably a failure on my part, and its something I want to see
improvement on, but it’s also hard with a smaller group to be able to run
more programs as well

I LOVE MY CHURCH Papers!! You saw these before.

Take some time this week to fill these papers out and make this a church you are proud
of!